TOURISM Malaysia will cease operations at its Phuket office on September 1 after 13 years in the Thai destination.

Tourism Malaysia deputy director general, Chong Yoke Har, said promotional activities for the whole of Thailand would be consolidated at the NTO’s Bangkok office instead.

She elaborated: “Besides traditional marketing efforts through print and broadcast media, we will also use more social media tools and online technologies to touch base with the trade and consumers, just like what other NTOs are doing.

“A series of programmes and strategies will be implemented in stages to draw more Thais to Malaysia next year, in line with Visit Malaysia Year 2014.”

Tourism Malaysia has set its arrivals targets for Thailand at 1.6 million in 2013 and 1.7 million in 2014, up from the 1.3 million Thais welcomed last year.

THE Philippine Department of Tourism (DoT) is spearheading a US$5.8 million redevelopment of Roxas Boulevard, the major gateway to the city of Manila and one the country’s most important and historic thoroughfares.

The DoT proposal covers the 10.1km spanning Bonifacio Drive in the heart of the city all the way to Airport Road near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. It will include cleaning the debris from previous developments, streetscape improvements, soil replacement and planting of greeneries.

Paved pedestrian walkways and bike lanes will be constructed while a segment of the road will be transformed into an events venue, a strip of night cafes, and commercial and shopping areas.

Ramon Jimenez Jr, tourism secretary, DoT, said Roxas Boulevard’s redevelopment is more than a beautification project. “This programme will re-establish the importance of Manila as a capital city and enhance the value of properties all over the district that it crosses. This is a business plan aimed at restoring and enhancing Manila as a viable capital for tourism and business.”

The local government and private sector would also hammer out solutions to potential problems relating to security, traffic management, billboards and illegal and ambulant vendors in the area.

President of Narra Hospitality and the Association of Human Resources Managers in the Hospitality Industry, Vic Alcuaz, said: “This is the best project the DoT can undertake in the Manila Bay area. Creating a new, world-class bay walk will benefit both local and foreign tourists and therefore make it easier for the government to reach its 10 million tourist goal by 2016.”

Inscribe Tours manager, Celia Soliman, added: “Aside from the famous Manila Bay sunset, people, especially tourists, will have a greater reason to visit the place.”

While lauding the redevelopment plan, CCT 168 Travel & Tours general manager, Ine Faustino, said commercial developments should not obstruct Manila Bay and its famed sunset, and suggested that activities be limited to the right side of Roxas Boulevard, away from the Bay.

LONGHAUL LCC AirAsia X yesterday announced it would increase the number of services from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney, Melbourne and Perth to double daily for each pair.

The news comes after a revision of a bilateral agreement between the Australian and Malaysian governments.

The airline’s current 12 weekly Sydney and Melbourne flights will be increased to 14 flights a week from October 1, while the Perth service will see the number of flights rise from nine weekly to 14 times a week beginning November 25.

Azran Osman-Rani, CEO, AirAsia X, said in a media release: “Overall, the airline has carried over 3.4 million passengers to and from its Australian routes since it began operations in Australia in 2007. Australia contributes over 40 per cent of the airline’s total revenue, with an average of 83 per cent passenger load in the first half of 2013.”

He added that the new double-daily services would help to meet “increasing demand” on these routes as well as “provide guests with a greater choice of travel times and enable us to offer improved flight connections across our network”.

AirAsia X has rolled out a “Buy 1, Fly 2” promotion in conjunction with the new frequencies, available for booking until September 1. The deal is applicable for departures from Kuala Lumpur between October 1, 2013 and August 5, 2014, and departures from Perth and Sydney between November 25, 2013 and August 5, 2014.

Under the deal, two travellers can fly from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney, Melbourne or Perth from RM599 (US$180), one-way.

AUSTRALIAN hotel company Mantra Group has partnered MJB Hoteliers again for the launch of its second Bali property, the BreakFree Sing Ken Ken.

Opened as the Sing Ken Ken Boutique Hotel in late 2012, the hotel will be rebranded as the first BreakFree brand property in Asia in early October.

“Mantra Group is focused on growing our presence in Bali across all three of our brands and we are confident that BreakFree’s combination of great service and cost-effective quality accommodation will work well in this region,” said Bob East, CEO, Mantra Group.

“We have concentrated on getting the product right for the BreakFree brand over the last few years, which has meant divesting hotels that weren’t within our brand standards.

“As a result, we have a solid network of good quality hotels in Australia and the BreakFree brand is ready to be taken to a market like Bali,” he said.

The three-and-a-half-star BreakFree Sing Ken Ken is located on the Legian beachfront and within walking distance to Seminyak and Kuta beaches, offering 80 deluxe rooms, junior suites and executive suites.

Featuring three dining outlets including a 24-hour bistro, rooftop terrace restaurant and pool bar, the hotel also comes with conference space for meetings of up to 150 pax theatre-style or 250 pax cocktail-style.

Mantra Group expects to add six more hotels to its inventory by end-2013, and a further 20 throughout the region by end-2014.

SINGAPORE Tourism Board has named Lynette Pang, currently executive director for arts & entertainment and F1 & sports, as the NTO’s new assistant chief executive marketing group.

She replaces Sophia Ng, who steps down from the post on October 1 after a two-year tenure with STB.

THE global adventure travel market has grown at 65 per cent annually since 2009 and is estimated to have been worth US$263 billion last year, excluding airfare, reported a new study.

The consumer report 2013 Adventure Tourism Market Study, produced by The George Washington University conducted in partnership with the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), studied the three key outbound regions of Europe, North America and South America, which account for almost 70 per cent of overall international departures.

According to the study, the exponential growth in adventure tourism over the years reflects the surge in international tourism and can also be attributed to the increase in the percentage of European and South American travellers classified as adventure travellers.

An increase in average spend by adventure travellers globally – from US$593 per trip in 2009 to US$947 in 2012 – and the emergence of new source markets also boosted the adventure tourism market.

The report also highlighted the following trends:

– 45 per cent of adventure travellers intend to use a tour operator on their next trip, compared to 31 per cent of non-adventure travellers

– Almost 54 per cent of travellers plan to take up an adventure activity on their next trip; a rise from the present 42 per cent

– The average length of a soft adventure trip was 10 days in 2012, up from eight in 2009

– 73 per cent of adventure travellers plan to do a new adventure activity on their next trip, while 22 per cent will participate in the same activity

ATTA is calling for more travel consultants who deal with adventure travel products to sign up as association members (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 17, 2013).

Thailand is also seeking to tap the growing segment, having promoted itself as an adventure travel destination at this year’s Thailand Travel Mart Plus (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 11, 2013).

DESPITE recent reports of further radioactive leakages at Tokyo Electric Power’s Fukushima nuclear plant, Malaysian travel consultants spoken to have recorded no cancellations or postponements in year-end travel bookings to Japan.

Cooper Huang, CEO, Malaysian Harmony Tours & Travel, said: “The (affected area) is far from popular tourist spots such as Hokkaido and Osaka.”

Instead he noted: “We’re getting new bookings for tour packages to these destinations, and also more enquiries from the Muslim segment for our autumn and winter tour packages to Japan.”

Huang also expected that AirAsia X’s conversion of its four-times-weekly Kuala Lumpur-Osaka flights to a daily service (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 23, 2013) would further stimulate the FIT segment, as the company would “benefit from selling ground packages to them”.

At the same time, Apple Vacations & Conventions’ group managing director, Desmond Lee, reported that the company had not received any enquiries from customers regarding safety issues.

Japan continues to be a hot-selling destination for high-income groups looking for a leisure destination as well as for the incentives market due to the visa waiver in that came into effect in July (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 26, 2013), he said.

To capitalise on growing demand for Japan tours, the company has organised six charters to Hokkaido between December 4 and 29 to coincide with the year-end school holiday period.

Meanwhile, one hotel company TTG Asia e-Daily spoke to said its hotels in the Tokyo area continue to see strong rates and bookings.

Kenji Goto, representative director of Hotel Okura, said: “Our group is on target to see at least a 10 per cent year-to-date increase in revenue versus the same time last year. Higher occupancies (rather than higher room rates) are definitely a factor as we have seen more overseas visitors (this year).”

The group, whose stable of brands comprise the four- to five-star Okura Hotels & Resorts and Nikko Hotels International and the three- to four-star Hotel JAL City, has posted strong occupancies of between 75 and 97 per cent at its Tokyo properties.

Additional reporting by Hannah Koh

THE regional hospitality sector has remained resilient in the face of tumultuous global financial conditions, with ARR increasing in 31 out of 35 of Asia-Pacific’s top 50 cities during the January to June period.

According to Hogg Robinson Group’s (HRG) latest HRG Interim Hotel Survey, Tokyo was the top performer in terms of rates in the local currency, with ARR jumping 19 per cent year-on-year to soar from 22,281 yen (US$226) to 26,514 yen. However, the increase was muted by exchange rates and registered a mere one per cent rise in the British pound.

Meanwhile, rates in Mumbai and Bengaluru strengthened both in the Indian rupee and British pound, growing nine per cent and six per cent respectively. HRG credited growth in Bengaluru to the lack of new openings, and Mumbai’s growth to strong demand from the outsourced IT sector and growth of the SME sector using best available rates.

Rates in Beijing rose three per cent when measured in yuan and doubled in pounds. Meanwhile, Singapore remained flat in the local currency while inching up four per cent in pounds.

Hong Kong and Singapore also maintained their positions within the top 20 most expensive hotel room cities, despite not being megacities.

Overall, the survey stated that Asia posted modest growth in 1H2013, which masked the large swings each way in key cities. The regional ARR shifted from 165 pounds (US$257) to 167 pounds.

Margaret Bowler, director, global hotel relations, HRG, said: “The early sign of recovery in hotel prices is encouraging; what is a surprise however, is that in certain key cities the rates are not as high as the market had expected – in many cities this is attributed to new supply.

“On the whole, occupancy is increasing faster which, coupled with continued high demand, means we will be likely to see rates climbing in certain markets in the second half of the year and beyond.”